Apple’s CEO Tim Cook is reportedly going to travel to Turkey in February to attend the official opening of the first retail store in the country, but also to negotiate a $4 billion iPad deal with the country’s officials, Turkish publication Emlakkulisi (via AppleInsider) reported. Apple’s iPad could be a solution for Turkey’s “FATIH Project,” which aims to bring modern computing devices to classrooms. Should Apple win the bid, the Turkish government will buy 10.6 million tablets in a first phase, followed by a second 2 million to 2.5 million iPad purchase. The deal would be worth between $3 billion and $4 billion to Apple over the course of four years. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has already seen Apple’s headquarters in California back in May, during a visit that was likely related to the FATIH education project.
Apple’s first brick-and-mortar store in Turkey will be opened in the Zorlu Center in Istanbul, an over 21,500-square-foot location that will reportedly feature a glass structure similar to Apple’s iconic Fifth Avenue retail store in New York.
Apple on Sunday confirmed it has inked an iPhone deal with China Mobile, the world’s largest mobile operator, which could bring in an additional $13 billion in revenue next year alone.
